Roulette is thrilled to present THE SUN RA ARKESTRA directed by Marshall Allen // Nate Wooley Quintet as the 2014-2015 Season Opener!

In the half-between world,
Dwell they: The Tone Scientists
In notes and tone
They speak of many things…
The tone scientists:
Architects of planes of discipline
Mathematically precise are they:
The tone-scientists
(Sun Ra)

Eclectic, outrageous, sometimes mystifying but always imbued with a powerful jazz consciousness, the music of Sun Ra has withstood its skeptics and detractors for nearly three generations. And well it should, since Sun Ra has been both apart of and ahead of the jazz tradition during that time. Like Duke Ellington and swing-era pioneer Fletcher Henderson, Sun Ra learned early on to write music in an arranged form that showcased the specific talents of his individual Arkestra members, and he has retained the services of some of these musicians to this day: John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, and Julian Priester for example since they first joined in the 1950’s.

Since 2008, the Nate Wooley Quintet has been involved in recasting the hard bop and free bop jazz traditions of the 1960s and 70s. Their first album, (Put Your) Hands Together, was voted one of the best records of the year by the New York City Jazz Record in 2011 and their follow-up, (Sit In) The Throne of Friendship was voted the #2 record (jazz or otherwise) of the year in the Chicago Reader. The quintet includes some of the brightest lights in the New York jazz scene: Harris Eisenstadt (drums), Matt Moran (vibraphone) Eivind Opsvik (bass), and Josh Sinton (bass clarinet).